


Heartache's Lullaby

by DMichelleWrites



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Future Fic, Marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-14
Updated: 2016-11-14
Packaged: 2018-08-30 16:03:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8539486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DMichelleWrites/pseuds/DMichelleWrites
Summary: Star City has their third annual Arts & Music festival. Oliver in his second term as mayor has a lot to do, yet all he can focus is Felicity. Since the anniversary of Genesis Day, Felicity hasn't been quite herself. As her husband, he makes it his personal mission to find out why, so they can work on it together.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [muslimsmoak](https://archiveofourown.org/users/muslimsmoak/gifts).



( _Originally via 506 "So It Begins"_ )

The sky was overcast, yet morning light managed to pour in through the Queens’ window, peeking through a sliver in their gray curtains. Oliver was already awake. His calloused hand swept over the mangled skin of Felicity's scarred back, slipping between her, well _his_ , sky blue button up shirt - one she had already claimed as her own from the night they arrived home from their honeymoon. Her skin had a slight scent of sweat. He knew by now they would have to talk about last night at some point, but he also understood she’d just refuse to talk about what happened only mere hours ago. Sometimes Donna was right. Felicity, in regards to her own problems, her own feelings was like a pistachio. Just after midnight, the city was pitch black. Thankfully, for once there wasn't much to do in terms of Team Arrow business, so Oliver and Felicity were actually able to get some much needed sleep for an hour at least. Oliver's ears honed in on a startling sound, Felicity's whimpers. His eyes flew open, surveying their bedroom as he attempted to locate an attacker in the stealth of night. But there was none, so he examined his wife's face. Her brows were furrowed. Her jaw was clenched so tightly Oliver feared Felicity would break a tooth or worse. Her nails dug sharply into his arm. Her skin was draped in a cold, profuse sheen of sweat. Felicity's whimpers soon escalated into pained, yet weak screams, and her arms subsequently began to flail as if she was fighting off an attacker. All the while Oliver attempted to wake her up with a gentle utterance of her name to no avail. It wasn't until he held onto her arms, preventing Felicity from hurting herself or him.

Her body jolted awake, sitting upright in a panic, "No!  I'm... What?"

Felicity's eyes darted around the room as a means to orient herself about her current surroundings.

"Shh. Hey, it's okay." A familiar voice assured, "You're safe. I'm here."

"Oliver?"

His free hand shielded Felicity's gaze from the bright buttery yellow light he just flicked on before he confirmed, "Yeah."

"Oh, thank goodness," She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Felicity, Honey..."

His wife interrupted, "I don't want to talk about it now."

"Please, baby."

"No," she denied again, laying back down. "Just sleep, Oliver for now."

He sighed, reminding, "You are not alone."

Frack, Felicity should've known that sentiment was going to come back to bite her in the ass one of these days. Oliver's calloused hand wordlessly slid down Felicity's damp bare back, caressing the multiple scars - marks he'd committed to memory over the past three years. She understood his hope for wanting to open up talk to him, but Felicity didn't need help. When she was eight, Felicity had nightmares about why her father left. Her mother was too busy working long hours as a cocktail waitress in six inch heels to help absolve her anxiety. Over time, the eight year old with the genius IQ figured it out all on her own. Some nights bedtime involved crying herself to sleep until she learned to quiet her mind by clutching her new plushy buddy, Hopper the bunny, who was no replacement for Mr. Square Bear, but he was pretty darn close. At thirty, Felicity was sure as Hell she could self-soothe herself back to a hopefully dreamless sleep. Just because her husband was a hero, who never gave up. It didn't mean he needed to be her knight in hunter green kevlar all the time. She could handle this on her own. Oliver turned away from Felicity, thinking she didn't even want to be touched by him at the moment.

"Oliver."

In response, Oliver immediately apologized, reaching for his lamp. "Sorry, I'll turn off the light,"

"Hey," Felicity pointed out, squeezing his bicep in protest, "I am not pushing you away. I promise."

From Oliver's perspective, that felt exactly like what she was doing, and it was a problem. Though this was about putting a focus on her - not him. As her husband, Oliver would make his own personal mission to find out what was going on with Felicity, so they could work on it together because they were a team. In fact, Oliver and Felicity were more like a team within a team. He would do anything to absolve her pain. To friends and family, Felicity seemed fine. Yet every year on the anniversary of Genesis Day. Felicity would be sleeping less and less, and she already didn't get enough of that as it was. Nightmares would happen more frequently, and lack of sleep only served to pile on more physical pain because her muscles were tense and lethargic. She'd end up pushing herself during physical therapy sessions with Paul, which Oliver found out later on. Despite Rory's promise, when the horrific remembrance of Genesis Day came around was the start of Felicity's guilt spiral. Oliver understood that Havenrock was an absolutely impossible choice. Yet two years had passed by since that fateful day, and the result of that still made her mind, body, and soul feel as fragile as glass in Star City.

Punctuating each pause with a kiss that descended down the side of her sweaty neck, "I wish you'd talk to me about it."

"Mm," His wife murmured, her eyes blinking warily, "What's left to talk about?"

"Felicity, let me in. Let me help you."

What was going to say that he hadn't said already? See, this wasn't their first go around since the anniversary of Genesis Day. It'd become much like their usual please-don't-go dance. Oliver was aware she still had pain, guilt, and anguish. He was even aware of the fact that she had nightmares, but she had never fully opened about them in the past two years. Talking about the nightmares would only make the weight of that decision resurface. And Felicity just couldn't. She couldn't go into that place - the dark part of her mind that she kept locked away ever since her parents got divorced. Felicity couldn't tell her husband how it felt like she was in Havenrock right after the nuke. Villages burned down to nothing, but mere rubble and ash. The darkness of the mushroom cloud filling the air, The contamination of radiation burning around like a seething layer of torment. It was in the way people rose up from the destruction like _The Walking Dead_ , zombies chasing after her, blaming her, physically attacking her to serve her penance. Logically as a woman of science, Felicity was well-aware that none of what she saw in her mind's eye could be true. She knew that Rory was the sole survivor of Havenrock, yet her subconscious drifted there anyway every damn fracking year.

"Oliver, you really wanna help me?"

He nodded by her shoulder, pressing a tender kiss to her scar from Clock King.

Felicity ordered, "Then just hold me close."

"I am." His breath ghosted over her ear as his large hand completely blanketed her smaller one.

"Tighter," she insisted.

Upon her request, Oliver looped his arms around Felicity firmer than before, yet his embrace remained gentle.

"Anything else you need?" He wondered with a yawn.

Felicity mumbled sleepily, adding, "Tell me you love me."

"I love you, Felicity."

Her neck craned back, pressing a messy, ardent kiss to her husband's mouth. On that note, the Queens drifted off into a dreamless sleep, if only for a few hours. There were brief moments where he could feel Felicity's eyes on him when he wasn't looking, although he saw nothing but blackness. Oliver really wanted to talk with her, but he also didn't want to be the one to push her away from him. Oliver awoke first as he usually did. Instead of sneaking out of bed for a typical five mile run, during times like these he lingered in bed with his wife to ensure she was safe. Not just from the threat of someone else, but herself. She always had this remarkable mind, though she'd get lost in whatever was weighing on it. For once, Felicity didn't hog the blankets, and she appeared to have slept a little more soundly, following her nightmare. With a sharp breath, disrupting her soft snores, her azure eyes greeted his.

"Morning," Felicity spoke in a breath, her voice still husky and laden with sleep.

Despite the morning breath, his lips brushed against hers, "Morning, beautiful. You sleep better?"

"Yeah," she fibbed, scrunching her face for a brief moment

God, she was a horrible liar, though in Felicity's defense so was he.

His eyebrow quirked as his wife made her way to their master bathroom, "We gonna talk about what happened last night?"

"Ugh," Felicity groaned, despite the sound of peeing since the door was left slightly ajar, he could still hear the deep-seated agitation in her tone. "You know what happened last night."

"Not entirely." He noted, striding over to join her in the bathroom. "Felicity, it's been two years..."

"You don't think I know that?" Felicity demanded, washing her hands as she didn't even bother to look at her husband right now. "The decision that I had to make doesn't just go away like that."

"You know what I meant."

"I know what meant." His wife agreed, more loudly than she had intended, "What I mean is that talking won't make what I was forced to do any better, and you have to understand that."

"Felicity, if we could just..."

"Look, I am not in the mood for this conversation now or ever."

"But you're the one that always told me..."

"Can we find a better time to fight about this?" Felicity argued, palming her face when her stomach rumbled. "We haven't even eaten breakfast yet."

"Okay. What do you want?" Her husband offered, seeing there was no chance he'd win this battle. "I can whip up something really quick before my meeting with Thea and Quentin."

"Oatmeal's fine."

Half an hour later when the Queens were dressed in work attire, Oliver tended to a steaming hot pot of instant oatmeal over the stove while Felicity busied herself with blueprints for Queen Incorporated.

"Here," Oliver muttered coldly. The bowl hit the marble countertop of the kitchen island with a subtle clink.

Felicity's eyes flickered down to the bowl. Regardless of her husband's annoyance with her at moment, he still took the liberty of topping the oatmeal off with sliced bananas like he knew she liked.

Her patent red lips curled in a smile that didn't reach her eyes, "Thank you."

"Like I said, you never, never have to thank me, Felicity."

"Sorry," She started to say.

Oliver continued, adjusting his tie brusquely, "You also don't have to apologize to me."

"Sorr..." Felicity began. Oliver shot her an insistent gaze. "It's a programmed response as a woman."

"You and I are partners in nearly every way possible."

Her smile widened to a more genuine expression because of his undying belief in her. There was a reason Oliver earned more of the women's vote during his second election, and it was more than simply Mayor Handsome's dashing good looks. Despite his past transgressions, he always stuck up for the little guy, girl, or person. He learned to become an even better mayor the second time around, especially when both Thea and Quentin remained by his side.

"Hey," She prompted, clutching his hand across the counter. "You know I still love you. Right, even when we fight?"

"You know I still love you. Right, even when we fight?" He repeated, tacking on. "But one of these days I'd wish you'd open up to me about... you know."

Felicity answered solemnly, stirring her spoon in a now partially eaten bowl of oatmeal, "I know. It's just... I can't. I..."

He could hear the fear in her voice like it was a living, breathing entity, and to Felicity, it probably felt that way. However. why couldn't she? What happened to relying on your partner? Those were definite questions on the tip of his tongue, though in Oliver's mind he knew those questions could easily be interpreted as accusations. He just wanted to help in any way possible. It was what he did. It's still what they do, but when it came to Havenrock she was blocked off to him and to Rory. No matter how much he desired to help Felicity, she just wouldn't let him. Oliver understood that Felicity had a habit of prioritizing her problems below everyone else's on the totem pole, but she didn't have to be that way. Not with her friends, and certainly not with her husband. Yet when it boiled down to Havenrock, and her pain about that day, Felicity kept everyone at arm's length.

"Okay." Her husband reassured, squeezing her shoulder before his lips collided into hers, "I'll be home by seven. Thea managed to talk George Papp into renting out a space in Rockets Arena for the art and music festival this year."

Finishing her food,  she replied stoically, "That's great, Honey. Love you."

"Love you too." He always said, walking to the front door.

"Hey, wait! You forgot something."

Her heels clacked against the floor, catching up to her husband in a jiffy. Just as he questioned, "What?" Felicity's arms looped around his neck, planting a heartfelt, reassuring, and languid smooch on his pillowy lips.

"We never leave each other from a day or night work without a 'see ya later' kiss. Remember?" His wife reminded after pulling away.

Oliver chuckled, chasing her lips for another small peck like a cherry atop a sundae. "How could I forget? See ya later."

Goodbye was a word that was nearly eradicated from their vocabulary. See ya later felt less final, and it meant they would always come home to each other, even if they had to fight like Hell, even if it was just a normal work day, it symbolized that at the end of each and every day they would be together - no matter what.

Felicity whispered. Her eyes draped shut, biting her lip, "When it comes to Havenrock, I just need some space. Okay?"

"Okay," He concurred, despite the fact that every fiber in his being was screaming otherwise.

With a wave for later, their front door fell shut with a snick. Felicity scoured through schematics for future inventions once Queen Incorporated launched into the business world along with its tech subsidiary, Q-Core. The bags under her eyes made it rather difficult to fixate on a bright computer, so she tucked in her precious tech baby away for the time being. Glancing at the clock, Felicity had three more hours left until a rousing physical therapy session with Paul. She decided on finishing to the laundry, which remained in a mountainous pile in their teal baskets. Much like her mother, Felicity began folding clothes incessantly, and to her displeasure, she was done in no time. She then thought to watch a movie to fill her time up.  _Back to the Future_ was one of her favorites from the 80's, even though it depicted countless illogical fallacies in terms of history and technology. However, good movie was simply just a good movie for entertainment purposes, and what was a movie without a big bowl of popcorn? She tossed the bag in the microwave, plopping back down on their usually comfortable chocolate brown leather couch. Felicity groaned pitifully, arching her back away from the cushion as she hoped to alleviate some of the pain firing in her lower back like a rocket, readying for take off. Uncooked kernels popped, Felicity jumped at the mere sound of them. In her mind, it resembled the frightening pop sound of bullets. Bullets led Felicity to recall the very moment she was shot in the center of her spine, causing a temporary state of paralysis. Her mind became lost in a sea of unwanted memories. As the opening credits rolled, Felicity realized she was hugging herself tightly.

"Damn it, Felicity." She berated herself silently, "Calm down. It was just popcorn. You're fine. You're fine."

The movie managed to take Felicity out her headspace for a bit, and she spent the next hour in a video conference with a possible investor, Bruce Wayne. He was quite the charmer, and he seemed genuinely interested in her work. By noon, it was time for her physical therapy session with Paul. Just because, she had a working biostimulant implant in her spine, it didn't mean that it was free of complications, so Felicity worked to maintain her leg and arm strength. Perhaps a little too much because she tweaked a muscle in her left shoulder lifting some moderately heavy free weights. In addition, her back felt like it was on fire because she did a series of complex leg lifts. Night fell over the city by the time she tiredly entered their home away from home, the bunker.

As the elevators doors slid open, her husband greeted, "Hey."

"Hi," Felicity grunted as she feigned a cheery smile.

"You alright?"

Her lips pursed, humming, "Hm... Yeah, it's..."

"Before you say nothing, Felicity, you should know that Paul called me and gave me a full report."

"Damn it." His wife accused under her breath, "That little traitor."

He led her over to a couch near the med bay, "You need to take it easy."

"I'm fine." Felicity grit through clenched teeth. The pain was so very evident in the way she walked, talked, and moved in general.

Oliver huffed, "Ha! That's usually my line."

"I'm not leaving."

Fetching ice for her everywhere, he countered, "Didn't say you had to, Baby."

"And just what are you going to do about the comms, mister?" Her response was muffled by the couch. She sighed at the calming feel of cool ice on her shoulder and lower back. "Oh, I needed that."

"I thought so." Oliver grinned victoriously, rubbing away the tension in her neck in a haste. "Don't worry about the comms. Mister Terrific, you stay at home base."

"On it, sir." Curtis saluted, sitting in Felicity's chair.

"Yeah, feel free to use that." Oliver mentioned sarcastically.

"Curtis." Felicity warned, lifting her head up, "Don't call him, sir, and get out of my chair."

"Right. Right. My bad." He apologized, retrieving a chair from the Arrow Cave's round conference table. "Oh, this one's comfy too."

The night was pretty quiet for a few hours. Dig and Rene sparred head-to-head with Kendo sticks. Evelyn was shooting tennis balls for target practice, and Rory was in meditation mode near the heavy punching bags with scentless serenity candles. As Curtis was on the periphery of wakefulness, three loud beeps alerted the team to a crime in a progress.

Typing away, Curtis noted, "Looks like we have an armed robbery in progress at Starling National bank."

"Sounds easy enough." Oliver brushed off with an air of confidence. "I've got this."

Now sitting upright, Felicity mentioned, "I don't like you going in there without backup."

"Yeah." Curtis figured, not taking his eyes off the screen. "Security cameras show there's at least four menacing hotties in the lobby."

"Excuse me?" His team leader said in disbelief.

Curtis piped up, "Well, they are. Sorry!"

"Suit up!" Overwatch commanded loudly, even though that was more of the Green Arrow's job.

"Fine." Oliver checked off, heading towards the case with his suit. "Spartan and Wild Dog, you're with me. Overwatch, Mister Terrific, Artemis, and Ragman, you're Team Tech tonight."

"Aw." Evelyn chimed, whining with a cute pouty face, "Why don't I get to go out in the field?"

Pulling up his hood, Oliver uttered in his full Green Arrow growl, "Because I said so."

"Besides, cutie." Wild Dog added, "Spartan and I are military trained."

"A) She's too young for you, man, so don't even think about it." Dig advises, lowering the dark red visor on his helmet. "B) Evelyn, you have midterms to study for. They're coming up in a few weeks."

"Dig's got a point." Felicity said, warning Evelyn. "Besides Oliver and I don't let you live in our refurbished attic for free."

"Uh, yes you do." Rory thought, reminding them. "Felicity, you teched it out while Oliver basically Evelyn built her own studio apartment over your house."

Evelyn cheered, fist pumping, "Yeah, they do."

"Her rent comes in the form paying for her water bill with her side job at Jitters. And making sure the Queen family scholarship doesn't go to waste. Obtaining a law degree even from Starling U is tough." Oliver added, getting back on track, "We've got a mission, so let's move out."

Considering the mission is a round of belligerent buffoons who think they could play cops and robbers in this city, tonight's mission seemed pretty seemed. And it was, but the sound of actual bullets, which emanated from the speakers around Felicity's workstation frightened her. Despite her aching muscles, Felicity's knees pressed as high as they could her chest. It was almost like she was trying to coil herself into a ball.

"Woah, woah." Rory asked, running to her aid, "What's going on?"

Evelyn trailed right behind him. "You okay, Felicity?"

Felicity didn't utter a single peep, which was quite unusual for her. She stared blankly at a concrete wall, breathing deeply. She securely ensnared her own legs to prevent them from trembling, but it was no use. The limo, the barrage of bullets, Damien Darhk, the gas chamber, and finally Havenrock. Everything hit her all at once in a series of flashes right before her eyes. Meanwhile, Curtis was unfortunately too busy with monitoring the team out in the field.

"They're fine." Concern washed over Curtis when he saw his friend in the midst of a panic attack, "Boss, just breathe. In and out slowly."

That was what she was trying to do. Eventually, it worked, though a sense of calm didn't comfort her until she saw the beta team was tending to her for once. Rory offered Felicity a cold rag. He avoided snapping it so as not to startle his friend. Curtis removed packs of ice from her shoulder and back like a gentleman with his eyes closed, so he didn't sneak an unwanted peek at anything. Considering Felicity was one of his best friends, and a woman, she wasn't his type at all. Evelyn draped Felicity, a woman who had practically become like her second mother, in a cozy gray blanket. Evelyn subsequently took Felicity's hands in hers, pushing at her knees ever so slightly.

Her gaze traveled to each one of her teammates. They were truly good people, but they didn't have to her like this. It was nothing. Right? Okay, so she got a little scared, so what?

"It doesn't sound like nothing." Rory believed, offering, "You wanna talk about it?"

Frack, so she said that out loud?

"I-I can't."

Rubbing the back of Felicity's hand with her thumb, Evelyn consoled, "Well, you know we're all here for you when you need us, even Rene."

She scoffed in disbelief, "Sure he is."

On that note, Rene announced, "I heard that, Blondie," as he removed his hockey mask.

"What's going on in here?" Oliver's face crumpled in confusion.

Clearing his throat, Dig urged, "Let's give these two a minute."

"I need some air," Felicity insisted when the team left.

Oliver purposefully gave her some space that she so desired. That was until he followed her out from the secret entrance in the alley. Her deep breaths puffed into the cold night air. She stared at the moon, trying to find solace in the stress that was plaguing her. Oliver intentionally coughed, letting his wife know he was right there with her now. It would only make matters worse, if he had startled moreso than before.

"Hey."

"Hi."

Tentatively, Oliver ensconced Felicity in his embrace. "If you don't wanna talk to me, then just tell me what you need."

"I need you..." She sighed heavily.

Pressing a kiss to her pulse point, he promised, "You have me."

"No." His wife denied, "I need you to tell me I haven't completely it lost because the way I feel now, I just don't know how to handle it."

"I understand that you really don't want to, but would you start by talking to me?"

"Alright." Felicity reasoned, tacking on. "But not here."

"Home, it is then." Oliver figured, leading Felicity to their truck.

With how frequent these panic attacks were coming around Genesis Day, it was time for Felicity to deal with the fact that she had to let someone in on this after two years. Oliver knew more than most as did Rory, but she never shared the complete story. The events leading up to this point weren't solely about Havenrock. It was this lifestyle. Now, Felicity would never want to quit Team Arrow. They needed her, especially the green one. It took a while for Felicity to crack open the barrier, the wall of darkness and pain she had locked inside her heart. But she went through everything- how she felt emotionally, physically, and mentally. She went into specific details about her dreams, and Oliver listened in patiently. He barely spoke a word until she asked him some questions. He held her when she cried, upon asking for her permission. Oliver fetched her tissues, hot milk, and rubbed her back as needed. While that was nice, and they were happy that everything was now out in the open, it didn't erase her PTSD, and Felicity finally called that pain what it was - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Her eyes were red and puffy. Felicity laid atop her husband, absentmindedly tracing his Bratva tattoo.

"So now what?" His wife wondered, sniffling.

His rough fingertips skated across her scarred back, "So now we move forward."

"How?"

"By getting both of us, the help we need - sooner rather than later."

Per some information from Lyla, A.R.G.U.S had a new psychotherapist, Alessandra Harper. They both had their own reservations about the idea of therapy, considering their own vigilante lifestyle. However, Lyla guaranteed them success in the next phase of their journey, and the Queens set up their very first appointments on Thursday. All vigilantes needed an outlet like this because at times it felt as if they were soldiers, fighting battles on their own home turf every night. Plus, it helped that Lyla spoke very highly of this young doctor. She was in her early thirties, graduated magna cum from San Francisco State University, and was highly versed in various field of trauma, dreams, and stress. On a personal note, she was wheelchair bound. Felicity immediately brought up the Holt biostimulant chip, but Alessandra kindly informed Felicity that she was not paralyzed. She was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at the age of just two years old. Her husband was Nate Heywood - otherwise known as Citizen Steel. After Alessandra responded tti all the questions they had about her, she promised under orders of A.R.G.U.S. and Director Michaels, that everything they say in her office was strictly under doctor-patient confidentiality. They opened up about fears and dreams, and then how to cope with them as an initial focal point.

Scribbling notes in her folder, "I think we're about done for the day, Mrs. Queen."

"Okay," Felicity agreed, loving the feel of this maroon couch. It was like butter.

"So I'll see you and your husband next week."

"Uh-huh." Her patient confirmed, inquiring, "So how was he?"

"Ah, ah." The brunette chided, tapping her pen. "Doctor-Patient confidentially."

"Good. I was testing you, doc."

She giggled, "So I see, and I'll see you two tomorrow night at the Star City art & music festival. Nate's speaking at a booth for art in the impressionist era.

"Mm... That's Oliver's favorite." Felicity told her doctor, "Our friend Rory has an exhibit with his metal sculptures."

Felicity stood, squatting down slightly to shake her therapist's hand. This wasn't going to be an overnight fix to resolve her PTSD and heartache from guilt. The couple was much too far off for that, but they would get there eventually. Therapy was a damn good way to kickstart the healing process, though they both know it took time. Friday night. Rockets Arena was abuzz with energy, music, food, and fun. Felicity had to oversee a possible space for Queen Incorporated, so she met up with Oliver and the team later that night.

"Hey, Ollie."

"Well, well, if it isn't my favorite Chief of Staff." Rene greeted with such swagger. "How you doing, mama?"

Thea huffed out a wry laugh, "Still not interested, Ramirez."

"C'mon, Queenie." Quentin mentioned, linking arms with her. "I hear a corn dog calling my name."

"Hey," Thea reminded in a very maternal manner, "Don't you have a heart condition?"

"Pfft." He sputtered like a horse, brushing off, "I took my pills today."

"Okay, but just one."

Curtis chuckled as the odd couple left, "Well, that was certainly something."

"No kidding." Evelyn agreed.

Rene questioned, "So you coming, Mr. Mayor, or what? Rory's waiting for us."

"I'm gonna wait for my wife. You guys go ahead."

As the team disappear from view, Felicity's boots clomped behind him. "Hey, can I speak with you privately for a sec?"

"Yeah. Dwayne, Ralph, could you give us a moment alone please?" Oliver requested, and his security detail gave them their space.

"Everything okay, Felicity?"

Felicity revealed a small blue and white pregnancy test from a pocket in her cropped black leather jacket.

Clearing her throat, she announced, "I'm not pregnant. I thought I was since we... got busy before Genesis Day, and in the effort of being completely honest with each other, I thought you should know right away."

"Okay." Oliver wondered, "And how do you feel about that?"

"God," She laughed, rolling her eyes, "You sound like, Dr. Harper."

"Sorry." He offered with a glint of happiness.

"I'm actually pretty relieved." Felicity admitted, tucking the test back in her jacket. "I want kids with you, but we're not ready yet."

Oliver concurred, "Yeah."

They needed to work on themselves before they could even think about having kids other than William, who had just entered his teenage years. Now they'd settled into the comfortable role of dad and stepmom, but they also liked rediscovering who Oliver and Felicity are now as individuals. Like their marriage, their mental health would take some hard work. For now, for tonight, they just enjoyed a crime-free date night. They made the rounds with Nate, Alessandra, and Rory. Then the evening slowed down with a performance from the alternative rock band Soul Binder. Both clad in leather jackets as their arms wrapped around each other, they swayed in time to the 90's rock ballad, "Lullaby" as the night came to a close. Their issues could take months to years of recovery, but at least Oliver and Felicity had each other - no matter what

**Author's Note:**

> Reviews and Kudos are appreciated.  
> Say hey, and please let me know what you think in the comments.  
> Tumblr: [DMichelleWrites](http://dmichellewrites.tumblr.com/)  
> Twitter: [@dmichelleca](https://twitter.com/dmichelleca)


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